A 48-yard completion by senior quarterback Ryan Gresik (Newton, N.J./Newton) to senior wide receiver Mick Paye (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional) during the opening drive helped set up a 28-yard field goal by junior Robert Sinegra (Wharton, N.J./Morris Knolls), and the Pioneers owned a quick 3-0 lead 2:08 into the contest.

The Red Hawks immediately answered with a 69-yard Ryan Davies touchdown pass to Malcolm Robinson, making it a 7-3 count with 10:54 left in the first quarter.

Another long Gresik-to-Paye pass play, this one for 78 yards, put WP on the MSU-2, and sophomore running back Darius Kersey (Dover, N.J./Dover) covered the final yards on the ground. Sinegra's extra point pushed William Paterson ahead, 10-7, three minutes later.

Montclair State finished its next possession with a 27-yard field goal by John Schubert (10-10, 5:11), and opened the second quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run by Denzel Nieves to take its first lead at 17-10 with 12:13 to play before halftime.

The two teams traded punts until a fumble gave the Red Hawks the ball inside the WP-10, and A.J. Scoppa cashed the turnover in for points with a seven-yard TD run (24-10, 4:45).

Sinegra's 22-yard field goal during the final minute of play made the score 24-13 at the intermission.

Nieves made it a 31-13 score with his six-yard score 10 minutes into the second half, and a Pioneer interception led to a Schubert 29-yard field goal less than three minutes later (34-13, 1:58). Nieves' third touchdown of the night, this one from one yard out, finished the scoring early in the fourth quarter (40-13, 9:20).